Dressage gets little enough exposure in the media as it is, and our hard-working Canadian riders tend to receive even less attention than their American and European counterparts. A big part of this blog will be to report on the news, events, and accomplishments involving Canadian riders, trainers, coaches, owners and officials.

Making a career in this sport isn't easy in Canada. Either you close up your business for four months and ship your horses halfway across the continent to compete in Florida, or you battle ice, snow, power outages, and frozen water buckets, and spend hours standing in a freezing arena trying to explain the outside rein to amateurs like me. Access to top tier coaches and international competition here is limited, extremely so outside of Southern Ontario and BC's lower mainland. Those who persist and succeed in spite of these obstacles deserve a little appreciation!

My own journey (ok, struggle) beyond Training Level will likely provide much blog fodder too. I hope to start a conversation where we can all share the highs and lows that come with pursuing perfection on a 1,500 pound animal that is afraid of puddles.

Along the way I'll talk about products, tack and equipment that I love, particularly those for the plus-sized rider. I'm a tackaholic and I'm not ashamed to admit it. Even if you can't ride good, I believe you can always look good!

But before this blog gets rolling I want to make one thing abundantly clear; I am no dressage expert. No horse or riding expert of any kind. I am a middle-aged, overweight, very rusty re-rider who struggles with First Level. But I am passionate about this sport and through my freelance writing work for various horse publications, I often get to learn from those who really are experts. I will endeavour to be very clear whether I'm sharing my own uninformed opinion, or the sage advice of those who know what they're talking about.

​While I may have controversial opinions from time to time about the overall state of the sport and its governing bodies, you won't find any criticism of individual riders or performances here. Few of us are in a position to judge those riding at a level we can only dream of and this community is too small to waste time tearing people down when we should be supporting one another and building our sport up.

​So...welcome to Canadian Dressage Addict! Feel free to make suggestions, share news and offer feedback in the comments section any time.

Hi Alison, I know I'm late to this, but congratulations on starting this blog, I've enjoyed reading it! I particularly like the posts in which you speak about your own goals and experiences. I do enjoy reading about the lucky ones in our midst who can afford to compete in Florida, or lease a former Olympian... But it does seem sometimes that the grassroots of our sport doesn't get equal representation. The vast majority of dressage riders are just like you: passionate about the sport, but struggling to make it work in between family commitments, financial limitations etc. This is something that our governing body (cough cough) seems to have lost sight of. Keep up the good work!

Reply

Dr ssageAddict

2/8/2017 11:35:30 am

Thanks Meredith! That's certainly a big part of my goal, to shine a spotlight on the many fantastic dressage riders, coaches and trainers in Canada who often fly under the radar simply because they aren't in Wellington all winter or don't have big-time sponsors and clients. You are the ones who introduce riders to the sport, who bring our horses along and who give those very talented riders the opportunities that put them on the path to the big leagues. Please keep visiting and commenting!

Reply

Meredith Risk

2/8/2017 06:50:00 pm

Thanks Alison! I would like to think that I do more than 'introduce riders to the sport', as I've coached a large number of riders to FEI on a wide variety of horses, most of whom have thankfully not viewed my training as a temporary stepping stone on their way to the big leagues. Also, for many of us, not having 'big time sponsors' is a conscious choice. I've chosen to do what I can on my own limited budget, so that I'm not indebted to sponsors. Different strokes for different folks, and that's what makes a blog like yours so great!

DressageAddict

2/8/2017 09:53:20 pm

Arrgh...this is the third time I've tried to post a reply Meredith so apologies if three different deferent version appear. I didn't mean to imply that by "putting them on the path" to the big leagues you were handing riders off to their trainers. The proven ability that coaches like you and Jill Stedman, to name just two, to bring amateur clients on off breed horses all the way to Grand Prix is every bit as deserving of recognition as our national team riders' performances in CDIs. The point I was trying to make is that without coaches like you who are here all year and accessible to the average rider, we wouldn't have any riders introduced to the sport, and therefore no future top riders in development.

Reply

DressageAddict

2/8/2017 10:11:16 pm

Plus the not insignificant accomplishment of riding your own lovely horses and competing them successfully at FEI levels :-)